Book Title:   A DEADLY GAME – Angus Brodie and Mikaela Forsythe Murder Mystery Book 3 Character Name:  Lady Antonia Montgomery   How would you describe your family or your childhood?  My family first arrived in England with William the Conqueror, far older than the Queen’s.  He was quite a bounder according to family stories, ruthless, and took over the entire place.  My own childhood was – shall we say somewhat unusual.  I was an only child and allowed a great deal of freedom, raised by my father.   What was your greatest talent?  I speak four languages, quite expert with a saber, but I digress. It would undoubtedly have to be my ability to see through people, their machinations.  I don’t have much time left and I won’t be bothered.   Significant other?  That is rather personal don’t you think?  However, if I were to be honest, there have been a few, but none who would let me live my life as I chose.   Biggest challenge in relationships? I refuse to have them.   Where do you live?  At present I live at Sussex Square in London.  I do spend time in the north of Scotland at Old Lodge…

Jennifer Vido: You’re back with another fabulous beach read! What inspired your new release, THE COMEBACK SUMMER? Ali Brady: We each have a younger sister (coincidentally, both are named Elizabeth!) and one day, we were discussing how in a family, you seem to get slated into a specific role during childhood and it can be difficult to break out of those roles as adults. We wanted to write about the beautiful, complex, and challenging relationship of sisterhood—and how those roles we play in childhood shape us for the rest of our lives. From there, we created the characters of Hannah and Libby, two sisters who are best friends, roommates, and business partners. They love each other, but they’re perhaps a little too codependent and enmeshed in their roles, and in THE COMEBACK SUMMER, they learn to break out of those roles and follow their own paths.   Jen: What’s happening in the sisters’ lives, throwing them into a tailspin? Ali: Hannah and Libby are running their late grandmother’s PR agency, which has been losing clients since she passed away. As the story opens, they’ve just lost their last big client, and are worried that they might have to close the…

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present TJ Alexander!   Writes: Hey there! I write queer romcoms that take place in the food world. My second novel, CHEF’S CHOICE, is about Luna and Jean-Pierre, who agree to a fake dating arrangement so that Jean-Pierre can inherit a culinary empire. But first, they both have to learn how to cook haute cuisine–even though Luna can barely make grilled cheese. Globe-trotting adventures and trans joy abounds!   About: I’m originally from Florida and now live in New York City. I’m into birdwatching and houseplants, and I can mix a mean cocktail. If I were a cake, it would be pineapple upside-down. I enjoy picnics and long walks as long as they’re not uphill. When I’m not writing, I’m thinking about what’s for dinner.   What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: Someone who likes jokes and silliness A fan of cheese, bread, and pickles Loves a queer found family   What to expect if we’re compatible: Only one bed A first-class…

Book Title: MARRYING OFF MORGAN MCBRIDE Character Name: Morgan McBride   How would you describe your family or your childhood? The McBrides are chaos. Uncontainable and uncontrollable – each and every one of them is a force of nature. It’s like living with a cabin full of hurricanes. I love them but, hell, they make my life a hardship. It’s just my three younger brothers and my kid sister since Pa ran off and Ma died, leaving me to raise the pack of kids by myself. And what do I know about parenting? The only role model for a father I had was a drunk. But I did it. I raised them up. Well, all except for Junebug, who may yet be the death of me.   What was your greatest talent? Planning. There was no time for fun when I was dragging myself up to manhood – I can’t play a fiddle like my brother Jonah, or work an anvil like Kit, who’s a first-rate blacksmith. But I can lay in supplies enough for the hardest winter, and make sure the horses are shod and the cabin is leak-proof. I can take care of business. And that’s no small…

Book Title: THE VISCOUNT WHO VEXED ME Character Name: Emma Clark, Lady Dearborn   How would you describe your family or your childhood? Lovely. My sister Fanny and I spent many idyllic years in the countryside before we entered society. I was a bit wilder, and Fanny wiser, but we complimented each other in that way. We carried on until it was necessary to be singularly focused on finding the perfect match, because what else is a young woman of a certain age to do? It’s a daunting task when you think of it, determining who will be your lifelong partner with only a few conversations in the company of parents or chaperones. What was your greatest talent? One I discovered after I’d married. I don’t mean to boast, but I am very good at hosting parties. Garden parties, teas, balls—whatever social gathering you can imagine, I excel at putting together all the necessary ingredients—drinks, entertainment, guests—to guarantee a spectacular event. Significant other? I suppose you mean my husband, Lord Dearborn. I would not like to disparage him, but he was neither as handsome nor as dashing as Mr. Olivien, the Weslorian earl who came to call one day, quite…

1–What is the title of your latest release? BEWARE THE WOMAN 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Beware the Woman is the story of Jacy—newly married and with a baby on the way—and her new husband, Jed, embarking on a trip to visit Jed’s father, Dr. Ash, in Michigan’s far-flung Upper Peninsula. Once there, Jacy has a mild health scare and her Edenic idyll turns into something far darker. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I’m from Michigan and its Upper Peninsula has always fascinated me—its beauty and remoteness, its own cultural traditions, and idiosyncrasies. It turned out to be the perfect setting. The more I dug into its lore, the more it gave me. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Definitely. And I would warn her! 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Hopeful, romantic, resilient. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I learned how to make a Cornish pasty. I learned about mountain lions. I learned about the art of neon-sign making. And a few things I can’t say to avoid spoilers. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THAT SUMMER FEELING 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A divorcée attends an adults-only week of a summer sleepaway camp, where she runs into a man from her past that she believes she’s meant to be with, only to fall head over heels for his sister instead. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The summer camp setting is so integral to the plot that once I landed on my idea for the premise, the setting came to life alongside it. I’ve never been to a proper sleepaway camp, but I spent some time on the Georgia/North Carolina border a few years ago, and it felt like just the place to plant my fictional summer oasis. It was so perfectly idyllic—greenery and mountains and lakes galore—I knew Camp Carl Cove would fit right in. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? My protagonist Garland would be fun to talk to and quick to give out a meaningful compliment. I’d definitely hang out with her! 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Openhearted, eager, courageous 6–What’s something you learned while writing this…

Book Title: ESME CAHILL FAILS SPECTACULARLY Character Name: Esme Cahill   How would you describe your family or your childhood? My mother, Robyn, was an unwed, teenage mother with a reckless streak she never outgrew. She couldn’t keep a job for long, so we were always moving. She had a revolving door of boyfriends too, some better than others. One of them, Zip, taught me how to read before disappearing, taking money from Robyn’s purse but leaving me with my escape – books. It wasn’t all bad, but chaotic is an apt description of my early childhood, chaotic and unstable. That changed after Robyn was arrested for drug distribution and George and Adele, the wonderful grandparents I’d never known existed, took me in and raised me at the lakeside resort they owned, not far from Asheville, North Carolina. It felt like heaven, a refuge. For the first time, I got to be a child. But, as it turned out, I wasn’t very good at childhood. It always made me feel too much at the mercy of others. When an injured animal is given time to heal, there comes a day when refuge feels like suffocation. That’s why, even though I…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE VANISHING HOUR 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Grace Holloway keeps to herself. Since narrowly escaping death at the hands of the man who kidnapped her, she’s thrown herself into the small inn she runs in Rock Harbor, Maine. It’s quiet, quaint and, in the off-season, completely isolated—the perfect place for Grace to keep her own secrets. But Grace isn’t the only one with something to hide, and Rock Harbor isn’t just a sleepy vacation town. Someone is taking young women—girls who look an awful lot like Grace did when she was kidnapped so many years ago. When a surge of disappearances brings the investigation to her door, Grace finds herself unwillingly at the center of it all and doing everything she can to keep her distance. Because Grace knows something…something that could change everything. And when the truth comes to light, getting justice for the vanished might be more than Grace can handle alone… 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I thought it needed to be a lonely, coastal town—someplace cold and woodsy, not beachy, and then I settled in Maine because…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE BODY IN THE WEB 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? The Body in the Web is the 26th in my Faith Fairchild series (they don’t have to be read in order) and finds my amateur sleuth/wife/mother/caterer faced with the difficulty of solving a crime during the pandemic when the death of a friend is declared a suicide by the police, but Faith knows better—it’s murder. The title refers to both a spider web and the worldwide one, both traps! With her college-aged son and high school senior daughter at home studying remotely and her husband tending his flock in much the same manner, Faith finds her days overflowing with ways to keep her “Pod” nourished in body and mind. A subplot involves a young woman who has had to postpone her elaborate June wedding and her plans to have a honeymoon baby. 2022 saw 2.5 million weddings, the most in forty years, due to the pandemic backlog. Another ripple effect I write about is the way older people had to cope with Covid, describing how a character in other books, Millicent Revere McKinley, faces severe food and fuel insecurity…